Saturday 20 December 2014

The Axeman Cometh

Last painted Delves before Christmas. They nearly didn't make the cut.

Painted Dark Elves
Defer! Defer!
To the Lord High Elficutioner!

Seeing as all Elves are one now, I guess the fact that these aren't really Har Ganeth Executioner models really makes no odds. They're Wood Elves at heart, Wildwood Rangers in fact, although General Leofa's deft touches are scattered around the models to make them a little darker. Paint them evil and you'd never know, right?

I'm not bad. I'm just painted that way.

Keen to cut corners as ever, I didn't paint any eyes on this lot. This is because from table height, you can't see their faces. Those deep cowls shadow them entirely, and I reckon it's a bit cooler if they're lost in shadow. Might need a darker wash to achieve this better, having seen the photos, but in real life the lip of the hood keeps the eyes very much in the dark.

There you go, that's the look they generally sport when not being hit in the face with camera flash.

They aren't the greatest model in the GW stable, I have to say. Not bad at all, mind, but I find their poses very static. There's not much sense of movement beyond a steady march, and no impression of swinging those lovely choppers. 

One alone, the unit champion, is the genuine article. Looks pretty Darth in that helmet, I'd say.

Leofa! I am your father!

There's a chance that these chaps can double as Shades, the Dark Elf premium skirmishes who can take double handed weapons. You can probably use these bat'leths glaives to bung arrows at people, right? Or they have concealed crossbows in the hilt. Yeah, that.

Why be content with head removal when you can cut people in half through the heart with your ludicrously outside axes?

Painting Guide:


  • Purples - basecoat with the usual washes and highlights
  • Cloaks - Abaddon Black bottoms with Deadly Nightshade tops. The tops were washed with Nuln Oil and layered with Shadow Grey, the bottoms layered with more Deadly Nightshade
  • Armour - Rhinox Hide with an XV88 drybrush
  • Belt and Shinguards - Brass Scorpion, Agrax Earthshade wash and Ancient Gold drybrush
  • Skin - Kislev Flesh, Flesh Wash and Kislev Flesh layer with a Pallid Wychflesh drybrush
  • Gems - XV88 base, Golden Yellow, Bad Moon Yellow layer, a lick of Brown Ink and then a White Scar dot. Yellow is a bitch to paint gems with, I've decided, this needs practice
  • Facecloths - Emperor's Children (to tie in with other units) and a Pink Horror drybrush
  • Scale Tabard - Glistening Blue with Nuln Oil
  • Weapons - Abaddon Black, Mithril and Runefang silver layers
  • Axe Handles - Bleached Bone, Agrax Earthshade wash and White Scar drybrush



As ever, a character to round off. Almost the last of these ladies, I keep finding more in the lower recesses of the boxes.

Not blood in her cup - partly because she's not skimming the relevant cauldron, partly because why not try new Arctic Raspberry Delfaid?

This isn't the original Leofa conversion, her dagger had snapped midway along the blade in transit and the top half of it was missing. I trimmed down a Chaos Warrior blade for her instead, which is a little clumsy-looking. Probably hurts more though.

You twit.

No unit next week. It's Christmas! I'd only paint them red and green with candycane weapon handles, and then Kas would make me redo them.

6 comments:

  1. Very nice! Static poses or no, these are probably my favourite Dark Elf infantry so far.
    (But to paraphrase the recently-departed Mandy Rice-Davis: I would say that, wouldn't I?)

    One question: who is custodian of the conversion bitz? I'm planning to make Wildwood Rangers from LotR elves and could use an actual hooded Ranger head to see if the scale matches - with that splendid masked champion, I'd guess you've only used 19 of the 20 WWR heads.

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    1. I am afraid to say that that head had been reused on a character conversion. Sorry

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    2. No worries. I can get a size comparison from them at the next WoffBoot.

      I'm in no hurry to paint up the Wildwood Rangers, as I suspect that unarmoured Wood Elf combat infantry that doesn't strike first will have all the stopping power of tissue paper.

      (nice fluff though, I'll give them that)

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    3. I5 is nothing to sneeze at, surely? I reckon they'd be great against monsters or chariots (on the charge). Not that, as the general on this blog with the highest lose-to-win ratio, my reckonings are much to go on.

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  2. Looking good!
    There can't be much left in the box now?
    You've really managed to make very fast and great head way through them!

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  3. About a month's worth left, if I stick to current turnover! 20 more corsairs, 20 Witch Elves, 10 Cold One Riders and the gubbins for the rolling war altars. And then? More elves.

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